Technology

When 26-year-old Josh Grant buried his 59-year-old mother Anthea, he didn’t expect that he’d add a battle with tech giant Apple to his list of things to deal with.

At their mother’s funeral, Grant and his brother Patrick realized that they never asked their mother what her Apple ID password was so that they could get into her iPad. When Grant reached out to Apple to explain the situation, they denied his request for information, saying he needed “written permission” from his newly deceased mother.

Grant and his brother again attempted to explain that their mother had just recently died of cancer and that, obviously, she was unable to write them a letter. Apple then asked the brothers for a copy of Anthea’s death certificate, her will, and a letter from their solicitor. Apple later went even further and requested that the grieving sons get a court order to unlock the woman’s beloved iPad, citing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act as reason.

Grant, who is from London, wrote on his blog that although he was once an Apple fan, he is now turned off by their lack of compassion.

“I have always been a fan of Apple but this incident has changed my opinion of them completely,” Grant wrote on his blog Musnt’t Grumble. “Their utter lack of understanding and discretion in a time of great personal sadness has been astonishing. For a company that sells itself on the idea we are all part of one big Apple family, they have been very cold. Understandably, my brother has given up and we now have a redundant iPad. If anyone has any suggestions for an unusable iPad please do send them in. I’ve suggested illuminated placemat and shiny paperweight.”

Josh and Patrick Grant became executors of their late mother’s estate when she passed away on January 19.

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